


come to the orchard in spring

by timkon



Series: torn from each other's hearts [2]
Category: You Could Make a Life Series - Taylor Fitzpatrick
Genre: M/M, Non-Graphic Violence, YCMAL Holiday Exchange 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:55:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21973207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timkon/pseuds/timkon
Summary: Several days passed after they left the house on Neibolt before everyone's parents were okay to let them out into the world again.
Relationships: Georgie Dineen/Roberto Lombardi, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Roberto Lombardi/Elliott Matthews
Series: torn from each other's hearts [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1581694
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	come to the orchard in spring

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rvd](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rvd/gifts).



> Content warning for brief description of self harm in the form of a blood oath.
> 
> Title from Rumi's poem "A Great Wagon"
> 
> Its final stanza:  
> "Come to the orchard in Spring.  
> There is light and wine, and sweethearts  
> in the pomegranate flowers.
> 
> If you do not come, these do not matter.  
> If you do come, these do not matter."

Several days passed after they left the house on Neibolt before everyone’s parents were okay to let them out in the world again; once the blood and dirt and lingering fear had been scrubbed off their bodies, and the Losers had all trained their faces not to betray the wider horror they had faced that summer. They had all agreed to meet in the field they’d spent the early weeks of that summer relaxing in and one by one they all arrived, whether by bike or by foot.

Elliott was the first to arrive. Given how far he lived from town compared to the others, he was always guaranteed to be first or last and so he would always try to be first. Better to be punctual and alone than a fifth wheel, he thought.

But he wasn’t alone, at least for very long. Melissa arrived on her bike maybe fifteen minutes after him and it tumbled to the side as she rushed to hug him. He was surprised as he hugged back until he remembered that Melissa had likely not seen anyone but her father for days. He made sure to squeeze a little tighter.

They chatted lightly as Elliott laid down while Melissa picked at various blades of grass, both of them sharing how their parents reacted to their twenty-four hours missing stint. They spoke and the conversation naturally shifted away from that to their plans for the next two weeks, high school, and films they wanted to see from this summer. Robbie came crashing in next with his bike and eagerly joined their conversation about the potential sequel to Teen Wolf. Not long after, Georgie and Dicky arrived together as they had all summer.

For a couple hours, they all were together with nowhere else they needed to be and no urgent worries. With the Losers all looking squeaky clean and smiles on their faces, it was like a scene from another universe where they had never seen Death and instead spent their summer fighting off boredom.

Georgie stood up, after Robbie made a comment about the clown that had everyone wincing, as tall and regal as a thirteen year old could be in Elliott’s eyes. “We should make a pact. If _It_ ever comes back—if it turns out we didn’t kill It for good—then we’ll come back to finish the job. All of us, together.”

“I’ll do it,” Robbie said, no hesitation in his voice. It was hard to say no to Georgie on most days, but it wasn’t the same hero worship like the rest of them. No, his conviction in Georgie ran deeper.

_I love Robbie Lombardi and he has power over me. He loves Georgie Dineen, which means Georgie has power over him. Not enough to overpower Robbie when he really wants something, of course. But enough that I’m pretty sure he’d bite off his own hand to keep any promise for Georgie._

Elliott agreed to the blood oath along with the rest of the group, after some initial squeamishness over the specifics. But as he sliced his palm open, visions of what he saw in the deadlights came flooding through and it took all his concentration not to make a sound. It was all of his friends, all the Losers as they were in that very moment, stood serenely in a circle in the middle of this late summer field. Snapshots of all of them which were juxtaposed with brutal tableaux of each and every one of them dying.

He saw Georgie hoisted several feet in the air with his arms splayed out and unmoving as one of It’s long, sharp arms pierced him through the abdomen.

He saw Dicky looking old and gray in his bed, without any family around to mourn him as he passed away.

He saw himself.

He saw Melissa who was laid out against a wall with her face soaked in blood, not a soul in sight.

And Robbie. Robbie, who –

_Maybe I could change it._

He looked up at Georgie, who was speaking but Elliott couldn’t hear a word with all the images in his head still trying to overpower him. Dicky nudged him a minute later, holding his hand with his bloody palm face up for him to grab. He grasped Dicky’s hand firmly, letting Robbie take his right hand in his.

All of them stood silently together in that circle with only the rustling of the trees and their summer clothing interrupting. In that moment, they were one being. They loved each other deeply and they know that is what would outlive everything, that that’s what they would all remember of this summer.

They would remember the fear, of course. But mostly, they would remember the love.


End file.
